10 less gifted cricketers who became legends

7. MS Dhoni

MS Dhoni

One of the world’s highest paid sportsmen, the only cricketer in the top 100 and the darling of a country of billion people, MS Dhoni’s origin itself reeked of the lack of gifts.

Hailing from Jharkhand, he was never meant to enter anywhere close to the Test arena, leave alone winning every trophy that is there to be won in cricket, probably the one skipper in the world to do so.

Boasting of a mercurial average of 52.5 in ODIs thanks to 66 not outs, Dhoni became the game’s greatest finisher with a strike-rate close to 90, a few notches over that of Michael Bevan, a legend in his own right. With strong forearms, excellent sense of running between the wickets and good hand-eye coordination, Dhoni made batting a dogfight more than artistry but got the job done with a calm rarely seen at the crease.

8. Michael Bevan

Michael Bevan

Michael Bevan was probably ODI cricket’s greatest finisher until Dhoni arrived on the scene. While Dhoni won games with his big-hitting at the right moments, Bevan relied on finding gaps, soaking the pressure, farming the strike and playing around the tail.

He pulled off improbable victories including quite a few at the 2003 World Cup. The game was seldom over as long as Bevan was at the crease and even though there wasn’t much to write about his batting quality which primarily comprised of on side whips and manoeuvres, Bevan was all about cold, efficient, calculative execution with a calm head. No wonder that his ODI average was a stupendous 53.58 with 67 not outs.